Managing Your Aid

Enrollment Changes

What You Need to Know

For Undergraduate Students, a full-time course load is defined as taking 12 or more
credits. For Graduate students, a full-time course load is defined as taking 9 or
more credits. If a student is making a change to their schedule during the semester,
whether it be dropping below full-time status or adding up to full-time status, it
may impact the amount of financial aid they are receiving.

If a student withdraws from a class during or after the add/drop period, there could
potentially be a need to adjust the financial aid that was originally awarded. It
is in a student’s best interest to contact the Office of Financial Aid to inquire
about the possible impact a course withdrawal may have based on their individual enrollment
status and the types of financial aid awarded.

Federal regulations require that if a student withdraws from all classes after the
add/drop period ends, a Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculation must be performed to
determine how much of the student’s aid must be returned to the government. If a student
drops all of his/her courses during the add/drop period, the full amount of their
federal financial aid will be returned. The types of aid impacted are as follows:

Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan

Federal Direct Subsidized Loan

Federal Perkins Loan

Federal PLUS Loan (Parent/Graduate Student)

Federal Pell Grant

Federal SEOG

Federal Teach Grant

Federal Iraq Afghanistan Service Grant

The amount of aid that will possibly have to be returned is based on the exact date
that is used to complete the R2T4 process. Once the student has completed more than
60% of the semester, the student has earned all the Title IV funding (100%) that he/she
was scheduled to receive for that term, and no aid has to be returned to the government.

The R2T4 policies govern only the amount of Federal Aid that must be returned in the
case of a withdrawal. The amount of your actual charges (e.g., tuition, fees, etc.)
is determined by our institutional policy, which can be reviewed in theUniversity Refund Policy.

Students at West Chester University who receive all "Z" grades, which indicates that
they ceased attendance at some point in the term, will be reviewed as “unofficial
withdrawals”. Students with "NG" status will also be contacted in order to confirm
they are intending to complete the work and earn a grade in the course in the given
time.

For students who are reviewed as an unofficial withdrawal, professors will be contacted
directly by the Office of Financial Aid to determine the last date of academic activity.
The Office of Financial Aid will utilize the reported last date of academic activity
in the Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculations. If a date cannot be determined by the
professors, then the 50% mark in the term will be utilized as the default.

Students who choose to audit a course may also see a change in their financial aid
award, even if the change to the “audit” status takes place in the middle of the term. This
is due to the fact that for Title IV purposes, auditing a course does not count as
an earned grade and therefore would not be taken into consideration when determining
a student’s enrollment status.

For example, if a student was registered for 12 credits, but was auditing one, 3 credit
course, they would be considered part-time since only 9 of the credits count for Title
IV aid purposes. Please contact the Office of Financial Aid if you have questions
about how auditing coursework will impact your award.

Students should be aware that withdrawing from all courses during a term could have
an effect on their Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), which requires students to
earn 67% of the credits they have attempted. Students should also be made aware that
a return of funds to the federal government might create a balance due on their student
account. Institutional policy dictates that all students that drop below half-time
status for a term are required to complete Federal Exit Loan Counseling (Note: this
does not mean you will not be able to be considered for financial aid in future terms
if you re-enroll, but instead is an educational tutorial that should be completed
online at studentloans.gov).

Students considering withdrawing from all their classes should considering making
an appointment with the Office of Financial Aid to discuss their situation prior to
their withdrawal.

Additional Resources

Verification

The U.S. Department of Education selects students for verification. Verification is
a process for confirming the accuracy of the information students and parents provide
on the FAFSA. West Chester University may also select students for verification when
the FAFSA data or information received by the university appears incomplete or conflicting.

THE ANTICIPATED FEDERAL AID IN YOUR PACKAGE IS A GOOD FAITH/BEST ESTIMATE. VERIFICATION
MAY CHANGE THE VALUE OF THE AID OFFERED IN YOUR PACKAGE. TENTATIVE CREDIT RECORDED
ON YOUR ACCOUNT SUMMARY MAY BE REMOVED AT ANY TIME DURING THIS PROCESS.

AID WILL NOT BE POSTED/PAID TO YOUR ACCOUNT UNTIL THE VERIFICATION IS COMPLETE. THIS
INCLUDES FUNDS NEEDED FOR OFF-CAMPUS EXPENSES.

NOTE: When completing a FAFSA, students and parents who are able to utilize the "IRS
Data Retrieval Tool" may be exempted from having to provide an IRS Tax Return Transcript
to the West Chester University Financial Aid office.

Students will receive instructions via their WCU email account on how to complete
this process. Submit ALL requested documents within 30 days of the date requested.
Documents to confirm the data on the FAFSA may include, but are not limited to:

IRS Tax Return Transcripts You are responsible for calling the IRS at 1-800-908-9946
to order* a tax return transcript or via www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript. Tax
return transcripts (see sample) are free and will take 5 to 10 days to arrive in the
mail*.

High school diploma (this can be from a foreign school if it is equivalent to a U.S.
high school diploma);

GED (General Educational Development) certificate;

Completed homeschooling at the secondary level as defined by state law; or Completed
secondary school education in a homeschool setting which qualifies for an exemption
from compulsory attendance requirements under state law, if state law does not require
a home-schooled student to receive a credential for their education.

Alternate qualifications include Ability-to-Benefit Alternatives and an academic transcript
of a student who has succesfully completed at least a two-year program.

A permanent U.S. resident with a Permanent Resident Card (I-551) A conditional permanent
resident (I-551C)

Or the holder of an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from the Department of Homeland
Security showing the designations of Refugee, Asylum Granted, Parolee (I-94 confirms
that you were paroled for a minimum of one year and status has not expired), Victim
of Human Trafficking, T-Visa Holder (T-1, T-2, T-3, etc.), or Cuban-Haitian Entrant.

Male citizens and male immigrants residing in the U.S. aged 18 through 25 are required
to register with the Selective Service System at www.sss.gov, with limited exceptions. This requirement applies to any person assigned the sex
of male at birth.

Female students and male immigrants who entered the country at age 26 or older are
exempted.

SAP policy cannot be less than the federal minimum standard, and students must meet the requirements
of the SAP policy to be eligible for federal financial aid.

Every school's SAP standards include 3 components:

Qualitative measurement component such as a grade point average (GPA): West Chester
University requires a cumulative GPA of 2.0 by the end of the student's second year.

Quantitative measurement component referred to as the student's pace: West Chester
University's pace requirement is 67% of all attempted credits must be earned.

Maximum time frame of program completion: West Chester University's undergraduate
program completion maximum is 180 cumulative credits; graduate program completion
maximum is 72 cumulative credits.

Students concerned with academic challenges should contact the Early Alert Program. The mission of the Early Alert Program (EAP) is to provide early intervention through
early indicators to students identified through multiple collegiate channels as needing
additional academic and social support. For more information please e-mail earlyalert@wcupa.edu or call (610) 436-2187.

A student is considered to be incarcerated if she is serving a criminal sentence in
a federal, state, or local penitentiary, prison, jail, reformatory, work
farm, or similar correctional institution (whether it is operated by the government
or a contractor). A student is not considered to be incarcerated if she is
in a halfway house or home detention or is sentenced to serve only weekends.

Incarcerated students are not eligible for FSA loans but are eligible for
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs) and Federal Work-Study
(FWS). They are also eligible for Pell Grants if not incarcerated
in a federal or state penal institution.

Student Consumer Rights and Responsibilities

You have the right to ask a school:

The names of its accrediting organizations.

About its programs; its instructional, laboratory, and other physical facilities;
and its faculty.

What the cost of attending is and what its policies are on refunds to students who
drop out.

What financial assistance is available, including information on all federal, state,
local, private, and institutional financial aid programs.

What the procedures and deadlines are for submitting applications for each available
financial aid program.

What criteria it uses to select financial aid recipients.

How it determines your financial need. This process includes how costs for tuition
and fees, room and board, travel, books and supplies, personal and miscellaneous expenses,
etc. are considered in your budget. It also includes what resources (such as parental
contribution, other financial aid, your assets, etc.) are considered in the calculation
of your need.

If you have a loan, what the interest rate is, the total amount that must be repaid,
the length of time you have to repay the loan, when payments are to begin, and any
cancellation and deferment provisions that apply.

If you are offered a work study job, what kind of job it is, what hours you must work,
what your duties will be, what the rate of pay will be, and how and when you will
be paid.

To reconsider your aid package, if you believe a mistake has been made.

How the school determines whether you are making satisfactory academic progress, and
what happens if you are not.

What special facilities and services are available to the disabled.

You have the responsibility to:

Review and consider all information about a school's program before you enroll.

Pay special attention to your application for student financial aid, complete it accurately,
and submit it on time to the right place. Errors can delay your receipt of financial
aid.

Provide all additional documentation, verification, corrections, and/or new information
requested by either the Office of Financial Aid or the agency to which you submitted
your application.

Read and understand all forms that you are asked to sign and keep copies of them.

Accept responsibility for the promissory note and all other agreements that you sign.

If you have a loan, notify the lender of changes in your name, address, or enrollment
status.

Perform in a satisfactory manner the work that is agreed upon in accepting a college
work study job.

Special Situations

Financial Aid eligibility is based on a formula established by Congress that takes
into account family income, certain assets and expenses that are required (taxes),
necessary (basic living expenses) and related to earning income (employment-related
expenses). In addition there are eligibility requirements students must meet to receive
financial aid, including successful academic progress. For additional information
or to schedule an appointment please contact the Financial Aid office at (610) 436-2627
or via finaid@wcupa.edu.

Your educational expenses may be in excess of the standard Cost of Attendance used
to determine your aid package. If you have documentation to support these expenses
you may request an adjustment to your cost of attendance – A Budget Adjustment.

Many students feel they are independent for various reasons. How you answer the questions
in the dependency section of the FAFSA determines yourdependency statusaccording to federal law.

Where there are extenuating circumstances students may appeal their dependency status.
Exceptions are made only when adequate documentation of extenuating family circumstances
exists.

Complete and submit anAppeal to Be Independent Form , complete the request carefully. You may need to request a Dependency Override again
if you cannot answer the questions on the FAFSA as an Independent student, in the
following year.

Note:The school you plan to attend must submit the Dependency Override on your behalf.
West Chester University will not honor a Dependency Override authorized by another
institution.

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA) expanded the definition
of "independent student" to include youth who are 1) unaccompanied and homeless, or
2) unaccompanied, self-support, and at-risk of homeless at any time during the award
year in which they submit the FAFSA. The CCRAA uses the McKinney-Vento Act's definitions
of

"homeless" which, includes youth who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.
It also uses "at-risk of homelessness" to refer to students whose housing may cease
to be fixed, regular, and adequate.

"unaccompanied" which includes youth not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian.

The U.S. Department of Education has defined "youth" to mean 24 or younger.

Should your family's circumstances change after you submit your FAFSA you may have
grounds for a"Professional Judgment"evaluation. For added insight please see ourFAQs concerning this topic.

If you or your parents have unusual circumstances that affect the ability to contribute
money to the cost of your attendance at WCU (for example, high medical expenses),
you may complete an Unusual Circumstance Worksheet in order to have your aid application
reconsidered.

Reduction of income/Unusual Circumstance Form:Available upon request (2018-19 in June). Email Tori Nuccio if you have questions prior to June of each year.

Satisfactory Progress

Each student will be reviewed for progress annually after the spring semester. A student
must meet the following requirements in order to satisfy the academic progress policies
for Federal and State financial aid. Failure to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress
(SAP) in accordance with these standards will result in the loss of financial aid
until such time as the student is again maintaining satisfactory academic progress.

A student must meet the following requirements in order to be making satisfactory
academic progress and have an aid package containing Federal Title IV financial aid
generated on their behalf.

Successfully complete 67% of the total cumulative attempted and transfer credits.
This includes any credits for which the student remained enrolled past the Drop/Add
period.

Have a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.00 by the end of the fourth
(4th) term (this includes summer and winter sessions).

Undergraduate students may receive aid for up to 180 cumulative credits attempted. In addition to these
requirements, there are lifetime limits for the Federal Pell Grant Program for undergraduate
students.

Graduate students may receive aid for up to 72 cumulative credits attempted.

Students denied financial aid for non-compliance may appeal that denial through the
SAP Academic Appeal Process.

Courses taken at other institutions will be used in the determination of satisfactory
progress only if they are accepted for transfer to WCU and count toward the student's
degree. Credits transfer, but grades do not.

The following definitions are used in the academic progress assessment:

After students are determined by PHEAA to be eligible for a state grant, the Financial
Aid Office determines if they are maintaining satisfactory academic progress. Students
may receive a maximum of 8 full-time semester grants (or its equivalent). PHEAA state
grant progress is reviewed annually after the spring semester. To qualify, students
must:

Successfully complete a minimum of 12 new credits for each full-time semester of PHEAA
grant received during the preceding academic year.

Successfully complete a minimum of 6 new credits for each part-time semester of PHEAA
grant received during the preceding academic year.